Set up a Paper plugin

Checked against Linen’s templates on 2 November 2026. Every value on this page is copied from the template files themselves (build.gradle.kts, settings.gradle.kts, gradle.properties, the Gradle wrapper) and from the values New mod fills into them.

What New mod makes

Spigot, Bukkit and Purpur use the same templates as Paper; only the API dependency and its repository differ.

Minecraft	Java	Gradle	Gradle runs on	Gradle plugin
1.12.2	8	9.8.1	Java 21	xyz.jpenilla.run-paper 3.1.0
1.13 – 1.16.5	8	9.8.1	Java 21	xyz.jpenilla.run-paper 3.1.0
1.17 – 1.17.1	16	9.8.1	Java 21	xyz.jpenilla.run-paper 3.1.0
1.18 – 1.20.4	17	9.8.1	Java 21	xyz.jpenilla.run-paper 3.1.0
1.20.5 – 1.21.11	21	9.8.1	Java 21	xyz.jpenilla.run-paper 3.1.0
26.1 and newer	25	9.8.1	Java 25	xyz.jpenilla.run-paper 3.1.0

The server API is a compileOnly dependency, because the server provides it at runtime:

Server	API dependency	Repository
Paper, up to 1.16.5	com.destroystokyo.paper:paper-api	https://repo.papermc.io/repository/maven-public/
Paper, 1.17 and newer	io.papermc.paper:paper-api	https://repo.papermc.io/repository/maven-public/
Spigot	org.spigotmc:spigot-api	https://hub.spigotmc.org/nexus/content/groups/public/
Bukkit (up to 1.15.2)	org.bukkit:bukkit	https://hub.spigotmc.org/nexus/content/groups/public/
Purpur (1.16.5 and newer, not 1.17)	org.purpurmc.purpur:purpur-api	https://repo.purpurmc.org/snapshots

New mod doesn’t offer Paper 1.20.5: its published paper-api needs a snapshot library that no repository serves any more. There are no names in code to choose: plugins use the server API only, not the game’s internals.

Pinned version

Linen also keeps a Paper 26.2 template with every number fixed:

Minecraft	Paper API	Gradle plugin	Java	Gradle	plugin.yml
26.2	io.papermc.paper:paper-api:26.2.build.130-stable	xyz.jpenilla.run-paper 3.1.0	25	9.7.1	api-version: '26.2'

plugins {
    java
    id("xyz.jpenilla.run-paper") version "3.1.0"
}

dependencies {
    compileOnly("io.papermc.paper:paper-api:26.2.build.130-stable")
}

java {
    toolchain.languageVersion = JavaLanguageVersion.of(25)
}

tasks.runServer {
    minecraftVersion("26.2")
}

Commands

Task	Command
Build the plugin jar (in build/libs/)	./gradlew build
Start a local Paper server with the plugin	./gradlew runServer

runServer downloads Paper into run/. Plugins have no client run and no data generation. On Windows, use gradlew.bat or .\gradlew.

Paper’s own guides: Project setup and plugin.yml.

In Linen

• New mod writes these projects for Paper, and the same templates for Spigot, Bukkit and Purpur. Pick a version; Ctrl or Shift and a click adds more.
• Linen installs the Java version the project needs.